A vehicle cabin light of the prior art has a fixed light source that illuminates a defined reading area for a vehicle seat. Reading conditions are based on the position of the vehicle seat relative to the defined reading area. As such, reading conditions inevitably deteriorate as the vehicle seat is away from the predetermined reading area.
FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate a vehicle cabin light 101 in the prior art. The vehicle cabin light 101 provides illumination for one or more adjustable vehicle seats 102 of a vehicle. The vehicle cabin light 101 includes, for each side of the vehicle, a fixed light source 104 that illuminates a defined reading area 103. The vehicle cabin light 101 emits a cone of light 105 to illuminate the defined reading area 103 regardless of the position of the adjustable seat 102.
In FIG. 1A, the vehicle seat 102 shown in solid line is in a normal position. The vehicle seat 102 shown in dotted line to the left of the normal position is in a front position. The vehicle seat 102 shown in dotted line to the right of the normal position is in a back position. The beam of light emitted by the light source 104 is fixed since the light source 104 within the vehicle cabin light 101 is fixed. The light source 104 is typically angled for the vehicle seat 102 in the normal position. Reading conditions are only ideal when the vehicle seat 102 is in the normal position. For other seating positions, such as the front position and the back position and other positions in between, the reading conditions are thus not optimal.
In FIG. 1B, the vehicle cabin light 101 includes a driver-side switch 106a to turn on/off the driver-side light source 104a that illuminates the driver-side reading area, a passenger-side switch 106b to turn on/off the passenger-side light source 104b that illuminates the passenger-side reading area, and a central switch 106c to turn on/off an ambient light source (not shown) that is integrated with the vehicle cabin light 101.
The present invention addresses at least these limitations in the prior art.